With her debut single "Somebody" having recently cracked the Billboard Top 10, things are looking up for singer Natalie La Rose. However, the multi-talented performer recalls many times she thought about giving up on her dreams.

During our telephone interview, the Grammy Award-winning performer showed significant introspection talking about her work with everyone from The Rolling Stones to Tina Turner. Her gears were nearly audible as we discussed 20 Feet from Stardom, the Oscar-nominated documentary showcasing Fischer and others who've made careers of singing backup for music industry giants.

Faith Evans is on a high celebrating 20 years in R&B music. Yet, before executive producing the R&B Divas reality TV franchise or becoming a NY Times best-selling author, the soulful singer from Newark entered the music scene as the first female artist signed to Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs' Bad Boy label back in the early '90s

I watched the Minaj twerk fest once, and tears welled up. Not for joy. But because I remembered my mother and a whole host of proud black sistahs who fought sooooo hard to be something other than their asses.

There is fearlessness in childhood, an unbridled passion and confidence that only comes with trust. Trusting that your loved ones will protect you; trusting that you can fall, eyes closed, and the people that you love will be there to catch you.

While we are celebrating the just the survival of an R&B artist admitting he has had a desire for another man, what we are avoiding is the actual discussion of if we are ready for an actual openly gay black artist in our mainstream world.